Review Of The New Peterson StroboPlus HD Tuner

Greg Cutshaw · Post by **Greg Cutshaw** » 19 Mar 2013 9:30 am

If I'm gonna play a lot of open stuff when recording I raise the whole tuning up 9 cents so the open tuning, pedals down, is not too flat. Up the neck I can always move the bar around. It's pretty normal for me to reach behind the nut and pull a full strings sharp to blend with the rest of the band on an open A chord at the end of a song.

Greg

Dave Hepworth · Post by **Dave Hepworth** » 22 Mar 2013 2:22 am

Hi I am probably one of the Ist UK users of the Srobo HD(Thanks Ted!!).
It is so easy to use the Newman settings - & I never owned a Peterson before.It makes tuning so much easier-better than an unprogramable needle tuner and chart card.I will give it 10/10.

Alan Bidmade · Post by **Alan Bidmade** » 22 Mar 2013 5:20 am

I got my StroboPlus from Gerry Hogan. Great tuner, and the SE and SP settings seem to be right on the button. However, the acoustic guitar setting does a good job of getting 'in tune' but it is then flat when played with the pedal steel - with the tuner set at 440.00. Not sure why - could it be that the Newman setting (on which the SE and SP settings seem to be based) would have E set at 442.5 (even though the tuner is set at A= 440)? Do I need to set it at 442.5 therefore to tune the guitar with the psg?
This aside, I think it is a great piece of kit. More affordable, too!

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 22 Mar 2013 8:42 am

The 442.5 tuning is a compensated tuning. However, I tune my steel to the Newman 442.5 and I'm in tune with our lead guitar player who tunes his Strat to "Zero".

Play a full open E or A chord against a full open chord on the guitar and see how that compares.

Dag Wolf · Post by **Dag Wolf** » 22 Mar 2013 9:49 am

Can you program it yourself like thr Stroboflip?

Erv Niehaus · Post by **Erv Niehaus** » 22 Mar 2013 9:59 am

Yes,
You can even program it via a USB cord to your computer.

Ken Metcalf · Post by **Ken Metcalf** » 22 Mar 2013 10:29 am

0E9 is Es at 440 or zero... if you want to tune with pedals down...
I think that's one interpretation.

Dag Wolf · Post by **Dag Wolf** » 24 Mar 2013 1:33 am

Great

Malcolm McMaster · Post by **Malcolm McMaster** » 24 Mar 2013 6:13 am

One thing I don't like is how small the SE9 SP9 icons are, on a badly lit stage it strains the old eyes a bit to see which one you are on, other than that usual first class Peterson product.

Dick Sexton · Post by **Dick Sexton** » 24 Mar 2013 7:03 am

I would like to easily transfer the programmed setting in my HD SE9 & SP9 to my Strobo-Flip, somewhere.
They are ever so slightly different. Is there an easy way to do this. Maybe hook them together, output of one,
to the input of the other. Just curious, I have a need and master plan...

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 24 Mar 2013 7:35 am

The Strobe-O-Flip doesn't have a computer port on it. No way (for a user) to do this.

Maybe Susan, at Peterson, has some way of doing it at the factory.

Dick Sexton · Post by **Dick Sexton** » 24 Mar 2013 8:05 am

Well I was wrong. I hooked the output of my steel to the input of the HD, then the output of the HD to the input of the Strobo-flip. Both set to SE9. Tuned the open strings. They are identical. Sooooo... All I'll have to do is get the setting for the SP9 input into one of the programmable positions in the Strobo-flip and mission accomplished. At least that is somewhat less work... Again, my goal is to duplicate the settings of the SE9/SP9 in the HD to programable positions in the Strobo-flip.

Erv Niehaus · Post by **Erv Niehaus** » 25 Mar 2013 6:17 am

Dick,
You can hook up the Strobo-Plus to your computer via the USB cord. Couldn't you install the settings that way?

Dick Sexton · Post by **Dick Sexton** » 25 Mar 2013 6:44 am

Erv, Thank you... Me, always the kook in the crowd... And I'm true to form.

I'm wanting to load the older Strobo-Flip up with the SP9 settings in the new HD.
Lazy as I am, looking for an easy way to do that. I think the HD is one fine piece of gear.
Keeping the Strobo-Flip as back up.

Alan Bidmade · Post by **Alan Bidmade** » 25 Mar 2013 8:48 am

I contacted the helpdesk at Peterson regarding the difference between the acoustic guitar tuning and the pedal steel sweetener SE9/SP9. Here's the reply for those who are interested...

"ACU is shifted quite a bit flat of "home" to allow for capo use and other things. The lowest E in the ACU setting is about 12 cents flat of a standard E. While the instrument sounds great and in tune with itself, it would make sense for it to sound a bit flat when comparing directly to another instrument; especially the pedal steel guitar SE9 tuning where your E's are raised by about 10 cents.

One solution to get you part of the way there is to use the 0E9 sweetener. This is the same as SP9, except that it anchors the E to a 0 offset and shifts all other notes accordingly. ( parallel to each other )

I would advise making 2 presets - one with each sweetener. Play around with the global cent offset for the preset containing the ACU sweetener. Raising the whole preset by 12 cents will get your low E in the same ballpark as your steel guitar using 0E9.

Keep in mind that other pitches between these two sweeteners may now clash. It may take some tweaking to achieve a compromise of your liking. These cent offsets are only suggestions. Your ear may find a better compromise.

Let me know how it goes."

Some homework to do - and, as suggested, the outcome is likely to be somewhat subjective. However, to get the guitar in tune with the steel tuned to the SE9 sweetener, which to my mind suits my Sho-Bud far more than the OE9, it looks as though I would need to adjust the acoustic setting to a pitch of 10 + 12 to make 442.2. It strikes me that if the SE9 'Newman' setting has the E's at 442.5, then getting the acoustic guitar to a similar level might do the trick.

Bob Kagy · Post by **Bob Kagy** » 30 Mar 2013 5:08 pm

I'm trying to program the Newman E9th temperament into the StroboPlus, the one shown in all the Newman courses, etc. it has two values for several parameters and you tune with pedals down on some of the notes.

I can create these on the Peterson Connect site and save them to my tunings and sweeteners, but can't find a way to download the tunings into the USER PRESET STORAGE. The Peterson site doesn't offer a user preset storage number to add them into. What am I missing here?

I've tried to go around the Peterson site and enter a user preset using only the tuner controls, but haven't found a way to do that; the users manual is a little vague on entering an entire user preset as opposed to editing single parameters.

I have these in my StroboFlip and are the most useful sweeteners to my ear.

Any clues, experiences, etc. would be appreciated.
bk

Bob Kagy · Post by **Bob Kagy** » 31 Mar 2013 6:38 am

Update on my previous post. I went to the Peterson help desk and had some back and forth that I expect to solve my problem. I won't get to them until later in the day, but will assume I'm going to be OK.

Olli Haavisto · Post by **Olli Haavisto** » 31 Mar 2013 8:47 am

Greg, is there a mute button on this tuner?
Tried to look for that info but couldn`t find it

Bob Kagy · Post by **Bob Kagy** » 31 Mar 2013 12:54 pm

Happy to say that the Peterson help desk straightened me out. Part of my problem was based on my misunderstanding of both the Peterson tuner interface display and the tuner functions themselves.

But the help desk was very helpful, very available, patient, and offered pertinent advice. They're good.

Bob Kagy · Post by **Bob Kagy** » 31 Mar 2013 12:55 pm

Olli, there's a volume control on the right edge just above the input jack - have you tried that?

Olli Haavisto · Post by **Olli Haavisto** » 31 Mar 2013 1:17 pm

Bob, I don`t have the tuner, haven`t even seen one yet.
I was thinking of a button to mute the signal for silent tuning, with the tuner in line.

Greg Cutshaw · Post by **Greg Cutshaw** » 31 Mar 2013 4:48 pm

I couldn't find any mention of a tuner mute in the manual or quick start guide. I've not had good luck running any tuner inline and prefer to mod my volume pedal to have a separate tuner out or use the one on the Steel King.

In any case it would seem pretty easy for Peterson to add a tuner mute button to the software menu if the hardware has the ability to mute the signal path. Ask them!

Greg

Joseph Meditz · Post by **Joseph Meditz** » 9 Apr 2013 8:11 pm

I've had mine for a couple of days now. I got it because I'm ready to try something other than straight up tuning without chasing my tail going round and round making fine adjustments. So, I selected EM9 (Emmons E9) and tuned up my S10, and it sure sounds sweet! By golly I'm now one step closer to sounding like a real steeler! The thirds are very sweet while the fourth in the first inversion major chord, ie., D lever and strings 5,7 and 8. beats noticeably. Nevertheless, I'm very satisfied with this trade-off. After all, the fourth is already a dissonant interval.

I also bought the bracket and ball joint which allows me to position the display on the leg and facing up just as I desired. This hardware is nicely made. I'm happy with it.

The most striking feature of this tuner is the big, easy to read display that seems to lock onto the tone with little wandering.

Even though this unit has many features I have no desire to explore them. Out of the box it does exactly what I want. So, there's nothing for me to do but play!

Five stars

Dave Alfstad · Post by **Dave Alfstad** » 17 Apr 2013 2:29 pm

I just bought this tuner and I think it works awesome! I used the EM9 & EM6 settings on my P/P Emmons. I think it sounds great. I'm not really sure what the pedal & lever offset settings do. Maybe someone can clue me in, but I tuned all my levers and pedals in the EM9 & EM6 settings and I thought it sounded great.

Also, a friend tunes his steel to D9. What would he have to do to make this tuner work?

Thanks,
Dave Alfstad

Dick Sexton · Post by **Dick Sexton** » 18 Apr 2013 8:19 am

I also bought one of the new Peterson-HD tuners. It works great, but I didn't care for the leg mount.

Modified as follows: Go to the local music store, pick up a mic stand-mic clip, the type that looks like
a potato chip bag clip. Unscrew the clip part from the mic stand mount part and retain the screw & nut.
Take the metal part off of the Peterson Mount, two small screws, and install the potato chip bag type
clip to the plastic part of the Peterson Mount. Adjust as required. I use two rubber bands to strengthen
the clip pressure, mount your tuner and clip it to the leg of your steel. For the HD, the angle can be changed at the screw.

The Steel Guitar Forum

Review Of The New Peterson StroboPlus HD Tuner

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